Crazy Love Gamble-Style

Here are a few serious belly shots. Yikes! I am getting anxious, I want to meet my girl Norah! I hope she is as cute as this girl:

Bayli was here!! Don't blink though because she left before we knew it... Apparently she was in trouble for not doing her chores so she had to go back home. Ava knows a little something about getting in trouble. I have "grounded" her 3 times this week. First she was grounded from watching movies for 2 days (she had a potty accident on the couch while watching a movie and didn't ever tell us!!) Then she got grounded from going to Out of This World because she threw a fit leaving that place, I am trying to teach her that she needs to not cry as we leave fun places. This grounding won't be too long but I will just act like I was thinking of taking her there but can't for a few days. Lastly she is grounded from juice because she threw the biggest tantrum EVER over wanting juice when I offered her water. That one will last a bit longer. She doesn't need juice. Do I sound like a mean mommy??

Thursday was a fun day. We headed out to Sherwood to play with friends. Cute girls: I love this one of Katharina & Ava It was so nice outside we got to go to the park! Zech is adorable. Slide! Swings! Amelie Kiss the baby! Hugs Girl hugs, yuck! Perfect day! Ava has been begging to go to the park.

One week to go. How are things different this time? With Ava I was dying of anxiousness, I needed her out, not just by her due date but WAY before then. I couldn't wait to hold that little baby. To see with my own eyes that she was OK. To some extent I feel those same emotions. But it is totally different. I am a realist so I KNOW that Norah is easier on the inside : ) I know that each day she hangs out in there she is growing stronger & healthier. Her nervous system is developing more and she will be calmer and sleep better. Her heart will have a better chance of being totally ready to do it's job. Her immunity will be stronger. She is where she needs to be right now. Cooking away, getting ready to join our family. Of course all that being said, today would be a nice day for her to come... : ) If we get near Valentine's Day and she is STILL not here I will be kickin' her out! Just saying...

Yesterday we had a nice play date at Pump It Up Jr. (Phone shot, not so good!) Ava had a great time playing with Sammy. She also found a new friend, Kaitlyn. Ava was cracking me up with how she took this girls hand and led her everywhere for the rest of the day. Kaitlyn is older & taller but Ava was sure she should be the leader. I guess she is practicing for being a controlling big sister... It was basically just the 3 girls there so super mellow and fun. It is such a great place to run & jump off some energy. These girls were exhausted when all was said and done. Perfect!

Vickie, the lady that adopted Lily sent me the photo I shared recently the day she got home with her. It was really nice of her and such a cute photo: I was afraid to ask how things were going since but I knew I needed to for my own peace of mind so I emailed her again inquiring about how Lily was doing now that they have had just over a week together. Here is the email she sent back along with a few more pictures: She has totally adjusted. She sleeps in bed with us under the covers. She has even touched noses with the horses. She loves going in the car. She even ate a pair of my P.J.'s. She knows she rules the roost here. You are more then welcome to come see her if it helps. She even has more toys then our kids ever had. She has seen the vet and is up to date on everything now. Hoping that in a month she can go ride with me. I just love the way she spazes after a bath. I never leave home without her. (She is looking a little well fed in this picture!)...

My beautiful amazing Sister-in-Law D'Auna just started a blog ! She is pregnant with a little one due in July. I am so happy for her & my brother, as well as super excited to have babies growing up together. Here is the link if you want to check it out: Life as the Barton's (Also as always there will be a link on the right hand side if you want to get to it that way too.) The cutest couple ever are having a baby!! We are one super lucky, very blessed family!

Not too much going on over here. Just flying through my to-do list as I wait for little Norah to arrive. I let Ava help make scrambled eggs (these things are tough on a control freak like me). She did pretty good. She was very proud of herself. Here is what the floor looked like after she ate, WE MISS LILY! I don't think we realized the amount of clean up she was saving us : ) I got Norah one of those little assisted sitting chairs for babies, all the reviews I read said some kids just don't fit in them, they get stuck. Weird because my 3 year old fits just fine. She has claimed the little chair, among everything else Norah owns, as her own. She is sure Norah would want to share with her. I just hope that sharing goes BOTH WAYS! We went to visit my Sister's friends baby the other night. I was super impressed at how well Ava did with him. She is a natural. She is going to make a great big sister. Ava has already shown many signs of regression and worry with this ne...

Last Monday our household changed dramatically. Our beloved dog left with her new owner. As you may remember, we were ready to let Lily go about 3 weeks ago but ended up having a terrible experience with that. So back home she came and we have done nothing but spoil and love her as we embraced the end of our time with her. We mulled over the original decision and realized that nothing had changed, we still couldn't offer her as much as someone else could and we still would be happier with the ease of guilt that we feel every time we don't do what is in the best interest of her. Sunday night I put a new ad up and Monday morning I had 2 emails from Vickie who was dying to come meet Lily. She lives on a farm with no other dogs, 3 horses and a few stray cats. She has one grown adult child and was looking for a lap dog (Lily's dream come true). She said she would get lots of exercise and be spoiled and loved. When Vickie arrived Lily went into her normal frantic behavior, ru...

So the nursery has been bugging me for awhile, it just looks too much like a guest bedroom. I want it to be comfortable for guests and not feel over the top baby like but I also want it to look like it is Norah's room, not a guest bedroom we are keeping a crib in. The room itself looks like it was divided down the middle, half for guests, half for Norah. To make matters worse, the focal point of the room is the guest side. Norah's side, no real flow between the two spaces. So last night after a little shopping I stayed up and got the room changed just enough to make it work a little better. It is not done or perfect yet but I think I accomplished what I was after. Those are birds perched on branches on the wall surround by butterflies. It is sort of hard to make it out in the photo. I like the "Dream" sign over the bed, balances out the Norah sign on the other side of the curtains. I continued the butterflies on the other side of the room to, it sort of ties it all...

Grandpa is hanging in there. He has fallen too many times so he is not getting around very well anymore but he is almost always up for a visit. It makes him so happy when we all come to see him. Jessica took this picture, she says "You are so cute Grandpa!" He says, "I used to be much cuter!" he is so funny. Ava talked him into a ride, he loves that girl. They are pretty cute together. She is always hitting him up for chocolate when we go over, kind of reminds me when I was a kid... He used to count us out 10 M&M's a piece. We had a nice lunch, Grandpa, Mom, Jessica, Ava & I. It is fun to all get to hang out together! It doesn't just brighten up Grandpa's day, it brightens up ours too!

As I mentioned, Rhi & Tyler ventured out from Newport to join us for the baby shower, they stayed all weekend & we had a lovely visit. Rhi is pregnant too so we enjoyed getting to sit and discuss babies, pregnancy and things to come. These two make quite the pair! They require minimal management because they really get along fabulously! Ava couldn't be happier to have Tyler there and he seemed pretty happy about it too. She taught him to cut vegetables, bet you didn't know you are supposed to hold the cutting board with your feet... They cuddled on the floor, taking turns pretending to sleep. They laughed together. We were sad to see them go but so happy they came to visit! It is wonderful having our kids get along so well. I am excited to see how well the next two, who will be even closer in age will do. We love the Uppy's & it is so fun getting to watch our kids form bonds as they grow up together.

On Saturday several very awesome people threw a baby shower for me & Norah. Here are a few of them: Linda, Abby & Kim This is thee Linda , the most awesome Aunt who recently saved my life. Jessica, Billy & my Mom were all in on it too. They are all quite wonderful and make me feel so loved!! Billy is a wonderful photographer, any really good pictures in this post, she took. Pretty food. Me & my original BFF , Rachel, love her. Colton , Tiffani & Ava Lilies Cousin Jan Lilee -Belle, Ava & Bethany Miss Photogenic Adorable Tyler Beautiful Rachel Aside from a ton of awesome people & great food our hosts even set up a little kid play area. It was a big hit. Dressing up In true stubborn princess form. Rhi & Tyler There wasn't a really great belly shot in the bunch so I figured I would include one that was taken today. I know you people love to make fun of my huge belly : ) (YIKES!!) A big thank you to all that came to the shower and to my Sister who is su...